Thanks George..
Training those days was a lot more ‘rushed’ than today. They were incorporating a small contingent of Special Forces troops in all of the units deployed back then, and we were a commodity that was wanted and expected – I joined a LRRP unit (Google that one!) and lasted 2 years before I decided enough was enough. My son followed footsteps and went to Iraq as a Sapper – Is out now and works as a State Trooper.
Yeah, they were describing a 61 days training, I don't remember exactly, but it was something like 350 started and 104 or so came through. One needs to understand, those who joined are no slouches either, they are the top in their class, fit as Hell, in their prime, and still, it is the mental barrier that not everyone can overcome.
Sleep deprivation and training beyond the puke barrier, many times over, was just the first name, those who made it through, the real show just begun, combat training in the mountains.
I still wait on the day where the nations of this planet declare that armies are no longer needed, because there is nothing left worth fighting for, I am afraid, I wont see that day coming any time soon. LOL
Often wish I’d had my camera while in the jungle – it’s beauty and vastness was something that would afford many opportunities. I wasn’t the only one – Although we wouldn’t let journalists out with us when we went out, I did see many of them that were taking as many photographs of the beauty around us, as they did of wartime activities.. probably for their own pleasure..
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I imagine, although really beyond comprehension, it to be a somewhat 'schizophrenic' situation to be in.
